Pynchon in Public Day

Tags ‘2011’

it’s two of my friends reading Pynchon in public, while I’m busy stacking one of those typical German newspaper stands with two Pynchon novels, thinking that they should have them in vending machines everywhere. Hope that’s a proper way to celebrate PIPD – it’s a great idea, by the way. (It’s a shame International Slayer Day never caught on.)

Yes! We need Pynchon vending machines! While Slayer isn’t exactly my cup of tea, I’m sure there must be other Pynchon metalheads out there… why not make it a joint venture?

Martin Eve

May 20th

Amy LaMotta (@ragingbullette) writes with news that she saw Thomas Pynchon out bowling on his birthday, in Ohio, of all places. It must be remarked that, considering his age, the Pynch has some pretty soft-looking hands! Indeed, we even have a reference point for those hands now…

Martin Eve

May 18th

To kick off the documentation of the inaugural Pynchon in Public Day, here is a post about the Brighton meet-up. If others have photos/details of events in which they participated please email me (sadly W.A.S.T.E. is not available). I met with “John Dee” (@Dystopia2009) and we talked Pynchon, politics and life. We also installed several post horn insignia around the place:

There was also an article about this event in the Guardian yesterday detailing how the event came to be. Here’s a small excerpt:

“The rarity of seeing someone reading Pynchon in public prompted me to break tube etiquette and say hello, albeit briefly given that I had to get off,” says Eve. “Anyway, I tweeted about the occurrence and ‘John Dee’ (@Dystopia2009) got in touch and proposed that, on Pynchon’s birthday, we could hold a Pynchon in Public day. The appeal lies in the author’s stance on privacy; a man who has evaded the media gaze for 50 years while writing some of the most highly regarded, and most controversial, American prose couldn’t be asked to come out in public. On the other hand, his devoted following could wheel out the symbols of paranoia that pervade his books and celebrate what’s in the texts. Pynchon is worth it for the revolution he effected for American fiction . . . primarily a revolution that has reintroduced a critical Left stance into the landscape, even if this wasn’t entirely recognised at the time.”

Finally, after a long exhausting day I returned home (not so public, I know) to drink tea from this very special mug: